A stylish ‘John Wick 4’ in Paris

a swarm of Paris-based amateur bounty-hunters and armored ninjas who seem as plentiful as the city’s baguettes.

All the touches you expect from a Wick flick are here - a cool dog, hand-to-hand combat amid glass display cases, candles and Christian iconography, galloping horses, the screech of metal swords and a new way to hurt someone, in this case, a single playing card. We visit Germany, Japan and end in France, even going to a disused subway platform.

Returning director Chad Sta helski loves combining neon with gloom and now has the budget to rent out space in the Louvre. Of the 14 action sequences - yes, 14 - a few are truly mind-blowing, like a fight in the middle of the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe and a drone capturing a complicated set piece in a building involving what is being called a dragon’s breath shotgun. Repeating that last bit: dragon’s breath shotgun. If there was a bit of a slog through would-be assassins in “John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum” - you know, shoot, stab, repeat - there is none here. One sequence on a set of outdoor stairs in Paris is almost riotously funny as knives and guns blast away, while the filmmakers add water and fire to a nightclub rave scene that puts clueless dancers next to axe-throwing murderers.

A shout-out to costume designer Paco Delgado, who has outfitted the baddie gunmen in lightcolored three-piece suits and combat boots, and the executive baddies in fitted elegance with extravagant cravat-style ties.

One of the film’s saddest parts is saying goodbye to Lance Reddick, who played Continental Hotel concierge Charon and died on the eve of the movie’s debut.

How does this all end? Actually, on something of a deflating note. Earlier in the film, Wick’s Japan-based friend Shimazuplayed awesomely by Hiroyuki Sanada - had asked a question that eternally hangs over this franchise: “Have you given any thought to how this ends?”

This chapter ends in death, of course. But that’s also how it lives.

“John Wick: Chapter 4,” a Lionsgate release that hits theaters Friday, is rated R for “pervasive strong violence and some language.” Running time: 169 minutes. MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.